Catching Up With Telltale’s ‘The Walking Dead’ – Part 1

Kim Deuel
Games The Walking Dead
Games The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead debuted as a black-and-white comic book series in 2003 and has since grown into a gigantic franchise including a dramatic TV series, tons of merchandise, and multiple games. One of the most popular extensions of the franchise has been the episodic drama-adventure game series, Telltale’s The Walking Dead.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead now spans two full seasons and a spin-off. Season Three comes out soon to coincide with the new season of the TV show. To get you caught up in time for the third season of the episodic game series, here is an overview of everything that has happened so far. This will be a multi-part series starting with Season One. Check back next week for Season Two, followed by The Walking Dead: Michonne.

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Season One

The Telltale series is all about character development and choice. Instead of direct combat, the player progresses by following a story and making decisions. Every choice has consequences, even if it’s not immediately obvious. The story will vary somewhat due to decisions made by the player. Therefore, we have tried to summarize the different story branches that result from the player’s choices.

Episode 1: A New Day

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History Teacher Lee Everett has been convicted of killing a state senator. The officer transporting him becomes involved in a car accident . The collision finds Lee unconscious in the vehicle for hours. Injured, he escapes the car and finds the officer nearby. The dead officer has reanimated and Lee is forced to kill him. Lee escapes and finds a house to hide in. Here he discovers a young child named Clementine hiding in a treehouse.

The two leave together and meet Shawn Greene. Events lead the group to Shawn’s father – Hershel Greene. Hershel tends to Lee’s injury and allows him and Clementine to sleep in the barn on his farm.

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The next morning the pair meet Kenny and his son Ken Jr, whom he jokingly calls “Duck,” and his wife, Katjaa. The farm needs work done so Lee pitches in but suddenly he hears Shawn scream. Shawn’s legs have been pinned by a tractor and the noise has attracted a pair of walkers who are tearing through the unfinished fence.

One of the walkers grabs Duck, and the player must choose to help Shawn or Duck. Shawn dies and Hershel orders the entire group off his farm. Kenny allows Lee and Clementine to join his family in Macon.

On the way there, the truck runs out of gas. After a confrontation with zombies, they take shelter a drugstore where they meet other survivors, including CarleyGlenn DougLilly, and Lilly’s father Larry.

Larry notices Duck in a corner of the room covered in blood and assumes he was bitten but Katjaa argues it wasn’t and Kenny steps in. Larry wants the boy to be killed and Lee must decide who to side with.

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Walkers attack the store, but outside gunfire redirects them. Larry collapses and needs medicine from the pharmacy, so Lee offers to get them but the pharmacy door is locked. Glenn’s voice comes over the radio asking for help at the motel where he had gone to find fuel. Walkers have overrun the motel but Lee manages to rescue Glenn.

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Lee and Doug venture out to find the pharmacy door key. Lee spots his reanimated brother trapped under building debris. After taking the keys from the now-dead corpse, Lee and Lilly head back to the pharmacy but are consequently surrounded by walkers. They escape and grab the pills but walkers manage to capture Doug and Carley. Lee must decide who to save.

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Lee, Clementine, and either Doug or Carley make a run for the alley. Larry — who figures out Lee’s identity — stops Lee, punches him in the face, and leaves him for dead. Kenny saves Lee and they all make a run for the truck.

Hours later, the group takes shelter at the motel. Glenn chooses to leave and find his friends in Atlanta, taking Clementine’s walkie-talkie with him. Clementine is upset because the walkie talkies were the only thing she had left from her parents. Lee is still mad at Larry for trying to kill him and Larry warns Lee to stay away from his daughter Lilly or he will tell her that Lee is a convict. The episode closes with the lights in the motel going out.

Episode 2: Starved for Help

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Three months have passed. The food supply is nearly gone and the electricity at the motel no longer works. While hunting, Lee and Mark meet a group of three people, high schoolers Ben Paul and Travis and their band teacher David. David’s leg is caught in a bear trap, and Lee must decide what to do. either Travis is killed in an accident or David is left behind.

Lee, Ben, and Mark return to the motel. If David is alive, he loses his leg and passes out from blood loss and pain. If you leave David behind, Travis panics and tries to grab Mark’s hunting rifle. Travis takes a shot to the stomach in the scuffle and the remaining survivors must carry him back to the motel.

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Lee now has to choose to mend broken fences or continue to build relationships with those who don’t hate him. After several conversations, the player learns that the injured group member (David or Travis) has passed away. David/Travis reanimates and tries to attack Katjaa. After dispatching the walker, the group learns that everyone is infected, not just those whom the walkers bite. The catalyst is simply death.

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Two brothers, Andrew and Danny St. John, arrive in town, looking for fuel. They meet Lee’s group and take them to their nearby dairy farm where they offer food in exchange for gasoline. There they meet Brenda who gives them a basket of food and offers to feed the entire group.

While checking the farm’s electric fence to remove walker corpses, bandits attack Mark and Lee but they manage to escape. Andrew explains that they had a truce with the bandits which appears to be over. Brenda takes Mark to patch up his wounds and Andrew suggests Danny and Lee find out where they bandits are camping.

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Lee and Danny find a camp but they aren’t sure it belongs to the bandits. A woman attacks them, they kill her and return to the dairy. Back at the farm, Kenny and Lilly argue about a suspiciously locked door in the barn. Lilly wants to leave the farm, but Lee decides to check the door out. He finds what is apparently a torture room, but Andrew tells him the room is for skinning animals.

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After returning to the farmhouse, Lee sneaks around and discovers a bedroom barricaded with a bookshelf. He moves the shelf and enters the room, finding a legless Mark. Barely alive, Mark tells him not to eat the cooked meat. Lee rushes downstairs and blurts out that the farmhouse is a human slaughter house. Brenda doesn’t deny it, and Lee tells the group to run for it.

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The farmers capture everyone except Duck and Katjaa and put them in a meat locker. Larry collapses from a heart attack. The group escapes after Clementine crawls through an air conditioner vent. While attempting to get past Danny and Andrew, Lee gets into a fight and must choose whether or not to kill Danny.

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Lee runs outside right into Ben and Doug/Carley. They sneak around the house and find Brenda holding Katjaa hostage. Lee backs Brenda up, right into the reanimated arms of Mark. Lee and Katjaa run outside where Kenny is yelling at Andrew who is holding onto Duck. Kenny tries to save Duck but Andrew shoots him in the side. Doug/Carley manage to stun Andrew and Duck gets away. Lee jumps at Andrew and tries to get his gun. The resulting fight has several possible endings but in the end, Lee and the surviving members of his group escape.

On the way back the group discovers an abandoned station wagon that contains food and supplies including batteries. Lee puts the batteries into the camcorder he kept from the earlier encounter with Jolene, the woman they had killed at the camp. The video reveals Jolene’s concern for Clementine.

Episode 3: Long Road Ahead

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With their food supply gone at the dairy, the bandits turn their attention to Lee and the other residents of the motel. Between the walker and bandit attacks, the motel is no longer a haven and the survivors must leave or die. The group quickly leaves in the RV but have to leave supplies behind. A train blocks the road ahead. They find the train is still operable and also discover a lone survivor named Chuck. If Lilly is still in the group, she takes the RV and leaves. Lee and Kenny get the train moving and they set forth to Savannah.

Duck has been bitten and is starting to turn, so Lee convinces Kenny to stop the train. Katjaa takes an injured Duck out in the woods to end him but instead kills herself. This leaves Lee or Kenny forced to kill Duck. Farther up the tracks, a tanker car is blocking the path. While attempting to remove the car, the group meets survivors Omid and a pregnant Crista who offer to help and join them. Lee and Omid finish removal of the tanker and the group continues on.

Upon reaching the city, an unknown male voice comes over Clementine’s radio.

Episode 4: Around Every Corner

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The group is in Savannah. Walkers overrun Ben and Clementine, and Ben panics and runs without the girl. Chuck becomes separated from the group after saving Clementine. The rest hide inside a nearby house, empty except for the walker found in the attic.

Omid finds his injury has become worse. Lee and Kenny meet Molly who warns them of a nearby para-militant community named Crawford. A misfire from Kenny’s gun attracts walkers and the group splits up.

Lee escapes in the sewers and discovers the remains of Chuck’s body. He also finds a hidden community of cancer patients led by Vernon. Lee convinces Vernon he is not from Crawford. Vernon agrees to show Lee how to get back to the manor.

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Lee and Clementine find a boat but not everyone will fit into it. Omid will die without antibiotics, so a few take the boat to Crawford to get supplies. The group hide from walkers in an old school and find supplies as well as tapes that reveal information about the zombie outbreak. Lee confronts Molly, but walkers interrupt them. Molly attempts and fails to hold them off. Player decision decides her fate as well as Ben’s.

Vernon offers to take Clementine into his group. Whether or not Lee agrees, Vernon leaves. The next morning Lee discovers Clementine missing and her hat and radio outside. A walker bites Lee on the arm while trying to retrieve it and Lee has to decide whether or not to tell the group about the bite. Thinking Vernon has Clementine, Lee and his companions head for Vernon’s camp only to find it empty. The male voice over the radio reveals Clem’s location.

Episode 5: No Time Left

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The voice over the radio claims to have saved Clementine from Lee rather than kidnapping her. On returning to the manor, the group finds their boat missing after Vernon steals it. Lee learns of Clementine’s location and he and the group attempt to escape the manor that is now surrounded by zombies. Events during the escape lead to the death of Ben (if he was still alive) and possibly Kenny.

Lee splits up from the group during their escape across rooftops. He locates the motel and confronts the captor. He turns out to be the owner of the car in Episode 2 and states that stealing his supplies caused his wife and child to leave, ultimately resulting in their deaths. Clementine escapes and the player must choose the man’s fate.

Clementine and Lee are finally together again. A walker attacks Clementine while ignoring Lee leading him to believe that walker blood conceals his human scent. Due to this, Lee cuts open a walker and covers himself and the child with the blood. Lee collapses from injuries and Clementine drags Lee to safety where he reveals a walker bite. Clementine will choose to shoot him or leave him behind to die. After leaving. the girl notices two figures walking in the distance. Maybe they can help her.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

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The first DLC,  The Walking Dead: 400 Days, does not star Lee and Clementine. It instead focuses on the survival of five separate characters. Vince, a convicted criminal; Wyatt, who is fleeing from someone unknown to him; Russell, who is trying to discover what happened to his grandmother; Bonnie, a drug addict; and Shel, who is on the run with her sister Becca.

The epilogue follows Tavia, who is trying to save more survivors. The choices made in the DLC directly affect some of the elements in The Walking Dead: Season Two. For players who choose not to play it, Season Two starts with a pre-determined set of circumstances.


Those are the complete events of Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One. Check back next week for the recap of Season Two, followed by The Walking Dead: Michonne.

Kim Deuel